San Fernando police investigate the scene of a shooting where one was killed and four others injured in the 1400 block of Celis Street on Sunday. Describing what they called “major public threat,” Los Angeles police said they are seeking clues to three separate shootings in the Northeast San Fernando Valley that left three people dead and four others injured early Sunday morning and appear to be connected.

Frank Preciado of the LAPD describes shootings which took place early Sunday morning in the San Fernando Valley which left three people dead. Police are looking for a tan SUV with two male Hispanic suspects.

SWAT officers converged on a home in the northeast San Fernando Valley late Sunday and arrested a man who police believe was involved with a series of fatal shootings Sunday morning, police said.

The home is in Sylmar near Kismet Avenue and Polk Street, just a few miles from three shooting incidents that left three dead and four others injured.

Police called the shootings, which appeared to be related, “a major public threat.”

The three incidents, which were described as having “a similar manner,” took place between 5:50 and 6:45 a.m. Sunday in the city of San Fernando and in the Los Angeles communities of Sylmar and Pacoima, Los Angeles Police Department officials said. LAPD Sgt. Frank Preciado said officials were trying to locate a gold or tan SUV that contained two potential suspects, described as Hispanic males, that was seen in at least two of the three deadly shooting incidents. The victims appear to have been randomly targeted, he said.

“Both LAPD Robbery Homicide Division and L.A. (County) Sheriff’s Department Homicide Division are working jointly on leads that lead us to believe we have two male Hispanic shooters in a tan or a gold SUV, possibly a (Chevy) Tahoe, a Suburban or something of that nature,” Preciado said at an afternoon news conference.

After the man was detained Sunday night, a police spokesman told reporters they were still investigating the case and did not say if they were searching for another suspect.

“I cannot tell you for sure if there was a second individual but we are following up all leads at this time,” the spokesman said.

Earlier in the day, police told residents, if they see two Hispanic males, believed to be between their 20s and 50s, in the area to call 9-1-1 and try to get away from the car, Preciado said.

“At any point, until we have the suspects in custody, then yes, there would be a tendency to be somewhat fearful,” Preciado told reporters, adding that the public “should be vigilant of their surroundings.”

At about 5:50 a.m., a woman in her early 20s described by a police spokeswoman as having “special needs,” was killed and another family member was gravely injured in their car as a result of gunfire in the 1400 block of Celis Street in San Fernando. Three other family members who were in the same vehicle were also injured as a result of the shooting, Preciado said.

The family was on their way to church and was pulling over — reportedly because they were concerned about the way the SUV was driving behind them — when the shooting occurred, Preciado said.

The San Fernando Valley Sun identified the deceased woman as Mariana Franco and two of the wounded as her parents, Jose and Beatriz Franco, both Eucharist ministers at Santa Rosa Catholic Church.

At about 6:30 a.m., a male Hispanic, initially described as being between 25 and 35 years old, was fatally shot in a park in the area of the Sylmar Recreational Center in the 13000 block of Borden Avenue “in the same manner,” Preciado said, declining to offer further details. Then about 15 minutes later, a Hispanic woman believed to be in her 50s, who was also reportedly also heading to church, was fatally shot while in a stopped vehicle in the 12900 block of Filmore Street in Pacoima, officials said.

The San Fernando Valley Sun identified the deceased was Gloria Tovar, a Eucharist minister at the Pacoima-based Guardian Angel parish.

All three deceased victims died at the scene, officials said. Preciado did not name the victims.

“We’re looking for more leads,” Preciado said, noting police are soliciting witness accounts as well as any video that may be available of the shootings. “It’s a major public threat. At this point, we do have (LAPD’s) Robbery Homicide and we have a lot of resources.”

Preciado said detectives were on scene Sunday to collect videos from neighboring businesses and intersections to see when the suspected vehicle entered and exited those locations.

Detectives were looking at a few similar shootings in the recent past — including a woman who was injured by gunfire while exiting the 5 Freeway at Colorado Boulevard in Atwater Village on Wednesday — to see if there might be a correlation, Preciado said.

Anyone with information on any of these incidents is urged to call 1-877-LAPD-247.

Staff Writer Greg Cappis and City News Service contributed to this report.

Brenda Gazzar is a multilingual multimedia reporter who has worked for a variety of news outlets in California and in the Middle East since 2000. She has covered a range of issues, including breaking news, immigration, law and order, race, religion and gender issues, politics, human interest stories and education. Besides the Los Angeles Daily News and its sister papers, her work has been published by Reuters, the Denver Post, Ms. Magazine, the Jerusalem Post, USA Today, the Christian Science Monitor, the Los Angeles Jewish Journal, The Cairo Times and others. Brenda speaks Spanish, Hebrew and intermediate Arabic and is the recipient of national, state and regional awards, including a National Headliners Award and one from the Associated Press News Executives' Council. She holds a dual master's degree in Communications/Middle Eastern Studies from the University of Texas at Austin.

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